A former distance runner at the University of Kansas, Mellor is quick to recall his best marathon time of 2:39, which he reached 20 years ago. But the small-business owner had no complaints about his most recent time, which was the result of an impressive 7:20 per mile pace.

Wearing the trademark purple Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training singlet with the word “SURVIVOR” in bright yellow, Mellor was jubilant as he crossed the finish line.

He was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells, in January 2010. The cancer is in remission now but Mellor spent most of the last year in and out of chemotherapy. He’ll be on medication the rest of his life.

“This is the most satisfying race I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’ve done 13 or 14 marathons and a couple of Ironmans, but this is the best one. In fact, it was just as satisfying getting to the starting line as it was finishing.”

Mellor said he raised almost $6,000 for his team, the 30-member Mid-America chapter of Team In Training.

“People were always asking me what they could do for me when they found out I had CML,” he said. “This is what they could do for me, help me raise funds. Last year when I was in treatment, I was an honor patient … people were running for me.”

At this year’s event, Mellor’s parents, Stephen, a colon cancer survivor, and mother Meriel came in from Kansas City to run the half marathon. They were joined by his cousin, New York resident Jeff Richman, in support. Mellor’s wife Heather, and their two children, Sean and Andrew, cheered them all on.

They know firsthand most of the challenges Mellor has faced over the last year.

“Chemo’s as bad as you’ve heard it is,” he said. “CML used to be 100 percent fatal. Now the survival rate is in the high 90s (percent). It’s the biggest success story right now (in cancer) and it’s mostly because of the drug, Gleevec. I owe my life to it.”

All in the family

Mammoth Lakes resident Yordanos Asgedom said she was “ecstatic” after finishing her first half marathon.

The 34-year-old mother of three said she figured to cross the finish line in more than two hours on Sunday. Instead, she ran a very respectable 1:56:26.

“I went way above my expectation, and that makes me feel really good,” Asgedom said. “But we know who the real runner in the family is.”

Asgedom broke out in a huge grin as she looked at her husband of almost six years — Olympian and San Diego High product Meb Keflezighi, who had scorched the half marathon field in a record time of 1:02:38.

“He is very inspiring,” she said “He’s so humble, even beyond the running world. Every day, day in and day out, I see how hard he works. After running this, I appreciate even more what he does.”

Elvis otter know

Carlsbad resident, Competitor magazine editor-in-chief, founding member of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and erstwhile Elvis impersonator Bob Babbitt, who hasn’t missed a Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, said somewhere from 25 to 30 “running Elvi” took part in Sunday’s race.

On Sunday, Babbitt ran the half marathon for the second straight time and said, “I love the half a lot better.”

This year’s highlight? Easy for Babbitt to pin down: Mile 6.

“We got Otter Pops!” Babbitt exclaimed. “Man, we were heading on a downhill, we were belting out ‘Jailhouse Rock’ dressed as Elvis. And we had Otter Pops. Life is good. It was the best thing in the world.”

A woman walked by as Babbitt was reminiscing about the sweet frozen snacks and asked him if he was hot, still clad in the Elvis jumpsuit, replete with wig, sideburns and sunglasses.

Not missing a beat, Babbitt sashayed a bit and swiveled his hips, then replied in his best Elvis voice: “Yes, yes I am hot, thankyouverymuch.”

Hollywood Nights

Mildred Mitchell was planning to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon but she was told that her registration arrived just after the race had sold out.

She was a bit disappointed, but that little hiccup didn’t stop the 75-year-old from hopping on a San Diego-bound bus in Hollywood on Friday to run the half marathon instead.

This would have been marathon No. 17 for Mitchell (and No. 7 in San Diego) for the longtime Los Angeles Unified School District employee and runner since 1990 with a training group called the L.A. Leggers.

Mitchell says she runs every other day, six to eight miles each time out, her routes encompassing parts of Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard and all those other star-crossed streets.

It was the first San Diego race for the four runners from Veracruz, Mexico, who collectively heaped high praise on the city, the weather and the course (except for the uphills, all agreed) and they wanted a snapshot of the occasion.

The four used the race as a training session for the New York Marathon the first Sunday in November.

But for one of them, a different endurance race comes first.

Jourdain, who competed in IndyCar races in the 1990s and was on the NASCAR circuit last year, will take part in the weeklong La Carrera Panamericana auto race at Chapultepec in October.

He’ll be racing in the 24th annual Pan Am race from Oct. 21-27 in a 1953 Studebaker. He raced the same type of car last year and placed second overall.

“I hope I don’t lose too much in my training, I won’t be able to stop and run,” Jourdain said